King of the Hill: FOX Cancels Animated Show, No Season 14

by Trevor Kimball, October 30, 2008

In a somewhat surprising move, the FOX network has decided to cancel one of the staples of its Sunday night line-up. On the eve of Halloween, the King of the Hill TV show has been cancelled after 13 seasons on the air.

King of the Hill follows the animated adventures of the Hill family from the small town of Arlen, Texas. The family’s patriarch, Hank (Mike Judge), is a propane salesman who’s obsessed with his lawn and the Dallas Cowboys. His well-meaning wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) holds several part-time jobs and together, they raise their husky teenage son, Bobby (Pamela Adlon). Other characters include niece Luanne (Brittany Murphy), neighbor Bill (Stephen Root), and conspiracy-lover Dale (Johnny Hardwick).

The series debuted on January 12, 1997 on FOX and quickly became a staple of the network’s animation line-up. Having survived to produce over 240 episodes, King has become the second longest-running animated series, following The Simpsons. It’s become very popular in syndication, both in the US and internationally.

In recent years, King has been on the verge of cancellation several times. Earlier this month, Gary Newman, the co-chair of 20th Century Fox TV, hinted to TV Week that it may be time to pull the plug. He said, “I don’t know if the network will be ordering more seasons or not. That show has had its last rites read to it several times, and keeps rearing its head again.”

Should King of the Hill be cancelled?

This season, King has been averaging seven million viewers and a 3.4/8 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic, a far cry from the series’ heyday. Simpsons and Family Guy, the shows that air before and after, both attract better numbers.

Back in early April, FOX ordered 13 episodes for the show’s 13th season. Production is nearly completed on those and the network has decided that they will be the series’ last. The episodes that are currently airing are actually from the show’s 12th season. FOX won’t begin showing King’s final batch of episodes until February 2009 which means that, though cancelled, the series could end up on the network’s 2009-10 schedule.

King isn’t scheduled to have any kind of series-closing finale. Executive producer John Altschuler says that this is by design. If there’d been a series finale when the show ceased production in the past, it would have been difficult to revive it.

If this is truly the end of King, Altschuler feels good about the run but ultimately isn’t totally convinced it’s over. He told Variety, We’ve been here before… When it’s time for King of the Hill to go, it will go. But I think with the ratings this good, and with quality that doesn’t seem to be diminishing, it would be very odd for King of the Hill not to keep going.”

Influencing the network’s decision to cancel King, aside from the declining ratings, is the fact that FOX is hot to introduce two new animated series in midseason; Sit Down, Shut Up, from Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, and The Cleveland Show, a spin-off of Family Guy. Stay tuned!

I love King of the Hill, Please do not cancel,Cancel The cleveland show is always repeats.

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September 16, 2018 2:51 pm

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dale gribble

i agree king of the hill is an amazing tv show it is actually my favorite

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June 25, 2019 1:34 pm

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Josh

I love this show..keep it going

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July 29, 2016 10:31 pm

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Corinne Campbell

I love King of the Hill and so do my family, including the kids. It isn’t offensive like Family Guy and they are straight laced. Fox probably think that is too boring and they should be making fun of abortion and pedophilia like the latter mentioned rubbish. Stuff Fox, put it on somewhere else Altschuler. I am English and we don’t have Fox but are big fans so it’s possible, “yup”.

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January 12, 2016 11:06 am

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Erick

I loved king of the hill, I didn’t watch every episode but have watched it throughout it’s run. It sucks it got cancelled but it’s understandable why it did… They needed to make room for a new show which didn’t last very long I might add… you can’t have 3 shows that have basically the same style humor… it just doesn’t work! I would love to see a Season 14 eventually, but I doubt it’d be on a major network if that did happen as it would either be on Amazon, Hulu, or Netflix.

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December 26, 2015 9:56 pm

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Alyssa

I am not obsessed with the show, but the show is witty and everytime I watch an episode I can see the real world value in it! The show is a nice turn from Family Guy and The Simpsons, I like the more realistic plot lines. I also am a huge fan of Peggy and her drive of never giving up! Also her non stay at home mom ways. I love that she is a key character and that she isn’t just there being the forgiving boring housewife. I’m sorry but I’d rather watch Peggy kick ass than watch Marge… Read more »

PLEASE bring King of the Hill back!!! Absolutely the best animated show EVER!! I have watched all of them so many times and am so hungry to catch up with the Hill Family and their neighbors. I believe if they brought it back with a test season they would find out just how many loyal fans they have! I believe it would not only top the numbers of their Hey Day but show Fox just how prematurely they cancelled this show! BRING BACK KING! BRING BACK KING!

They can’t have anymore shows because “lueanne” (Brittany Murfy) is dead. It would be boring without her.

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February 5, 2014 9:13 am

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bri

I miss king of the hill…the characters were practically family.

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January 28, 2014 9:06 am

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jacob

I find it horribly disturbing that the FOX network is filled with enough ignorance to cancel possibly the best show they have ever had just for a small bit of cash. In my eyes this shows me that FOX cares little to none about their quality and they have no respect for their viewers. I WILL NO LONGER WATCH ANY FOX PROGRAMS OUT OF DISGUST AND HATRED.

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February 25, 2013 5:12 pm

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Katheryn

I use to watch Fox every Sunday. When they took King of the Hill away, I just kind of stopped watching on Sundays! It felt like whats the point! I do not think any adult animated shows have the heart that King of the Hill had. Hank was just a really good guy that always tried to do the right thing and get all those around him to do the same! Lol it just cracked me up! This was what made it different! Anyone who doesn’t get the humor probaby lacks the intelligence needed to appreciate the brilliant charactors of… Read more »